Pecan or Walnut Bars

Any time is a good time for sweets! I am not so much the fan of walnuts, but as an adult I have acquired the taste for Pecans. Add them to cookies, Great. Make a crust out of them for cheesecake, Delish!

For these bars you can use Pecans or Walnuts. Both would be tasty in these bars. You could even do both!

Pecan Or Walnut Bars

For the Crust

2 cups flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
a couple shakes cinnamon
2/3 cup salted butter

For the Pecan or Walnut Part

3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbs. melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, white thingies removed
2 cups pecan or walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the crust ingredients until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Pat the crust into a greased 13x9" pan or into smaller pans or greased mini muffin tins. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. While the crust is baking mix sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs. Once well combined, fold in the nuts. Pour over warm crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Layered Brownie Bars

Brownies... what a yummy dessert. These were created back in the late 90's. They are one of my favorites and they look so darn delectable.

Layered Brownie Bars

One box brownie mix made as directed on box
One recipe of your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a 9 X 13 or jelly roll pan. Press your favorite cookie dough into the bottom of the pan. Make sure it is even. Pour the brownie mix on top of the cookie dough. Spread until brownie mix is even. Pop it in the oven and bake according to the box directions. Toothpick test and add time accordingly.

Allow to cool. Cut and serve your delicious brownies and pat yourself on the back.

Super Sweet Bars

Super Sweet Bars. Layers of sweet, ooey, gooey goodness. They are almost too sweet. The base of these bars are made with a box of cake mix.

Super Sweet Bars

One box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup butter or Margarine

Mix together with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Pat the crust into the bottom of a Jelly Roll pan.

1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts (slivered almonds, cashew, pecans...)
1 cup Heath Bits O' Brickle (optional)
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Sprinkle chips on the crust layer. Layer the coconut. Layer the nuts. Sprinkle the Bits O' Brickle. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the layers of sweet goodness.

Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.

Variety Brownies In One Pan

Make them think you slaved for hours in your kitchen. Really you only use one large brownie mix or 2-3 smaller bagged ones, one bowl and one Jelly roll type pan and you have 3 different types of brownies. Quite genius I think and when you taste the variety you will go out of your mind.

Mix your favorite Brownie mix (sometimes I replace the water the recipe calls for with milk or flavored alcohol) and spread batter into the greased jelly roll pan.

Coconut Brownies
Sprinkle coconut on one third of the batter in the pan. The coconut will toast up so nicely and add such a great taste and texture to your brownie!

Chocolate Heath Bar Brownie
Take 2-3 Heath bars and crack them up. Place toffee pieces on brownie batter on the next third of the pan. Sprinkle a handful or two of semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of toffee.

Smore Brownies
Cut large marshmallows in half or use 1-2 cups mini marshmallows, a dozen Unwrapped Hershey Kisses, and a handful of walnuts. Pull brownies from oven when they are 3-5 minutes from being done. Sprinkle the marshmallows on brownies. Pop them back in the oven and bake the last few minutes. Once they have plumped, pull the brownies out and top your marshmallow with the kisses and nuts.

A New Twist On An Old Sweet

If you scroll down you will find a recipe for these really yummy Caramel Chocolate Bars. They are truly out of this world.

I went to Walmart the other day. There was a table with some Girl Scouts standing around it selling the yearly cookies. The sign on the table read, "LAST CHANCE FOR COOKIES". SCARE TACTICS at their finest. I was a bit sad thinking I would not be able to get a box of those delicious SAMOAS for one more year? How tragic. Then I thought about those Caramel Chocolate Bars and with that recipe below, I can recreate that caramel-ly, chocolate, and toasted coconut deliciousness whenever I want. I turned my frown upside down!

I simply placed some shredded coconut in a pan and toasted it in a 350 degree oven, checking it every couple of minutes for the perfect brown hue. It toasted pretty quickly. I set that aside and made the bars. I then substituted the toasted coconut for the sliced almonds. I have to say, when I served them as desert at dinner, people commented on how they were better than the Girl Scout cookie. So, if the Caramel, Chocolate and Coconut cookie is one of your favorites, you too can sleep better knowing you do not have to wait a year. Praise God, there is a placebo! :)

A Twist On An Old Sweet

Have you ever had the chocolate covered toffee like bars made with Saltine Crackers?

My Grandma John made them for us when she visited a long time ago. I was reading through some old recipes and wanted to replace the Saltines with something else. I over bought baking supplies for the holidays and camping over New Years weekend. Ran out of time during the holidays and did not go camping over New Years. I hate throwing that kind of stuff in the trash so WHA-LA... I am using up some of the goodies I had for making Smores.

These bars are not as crunchy or toffee like as the ones my Grandma made but they are not too bad. Give them a whirl. Maybe make them for your Valentine/s! (:

Almond Caramel Graham Cracker Bars

1 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup butter, melted

15 to 20 full cinnamon Graham crackers broken into 4 segments

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

5 large size HERSHEY bars

1 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a 10 by 15 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Using the 1/4 cup of the melted butter, pour over aluminum foil and spread with back of spoon until foil is covered in melted butter. Place Graham crackers, side by side and spaced evenly, so that they cover the entire bottom of pan. Small gaps are OK.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, pour the other 1 cup of melted butter into pan. Add brown sugar and stir over heat until combined. Bring butter and sugar to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, until the mixture is a thick and bubbly caramel colored syrup. Boil until your candy thermometer reads 248 degrees. Remove from heat and slowly add the sweetened condensed milk. Use a whisk until both are blended smooth. Should resemble a thick caramel sauce at this point. Pour this mixture over the crackers, until every Graham cracker is covered.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes in the 425 degree oven. Open large Hershey bars and break into segmented pieces. Have them ready. After 10 minutes remove bars from the oven. They will be bubbly and brown. Place candy bar segments on top of bubbly caramel, being careful not to burn yourself. Let chocolate sit for about 5 minutes to melt and then using back side of spoon spread melted chocolate over caramel layer. Sprinkle toasted almonds on to the chocolate layer. Put bars in the freezer for 30 minutes or until chocolate has solidified.

Remove from freezer. Pull aluminum foil and lift bars from jelly roll pan. Set aside. Line jelly roll pan with paper towels or saran wrap. Turn bars almond side over onto paper towels or saran wrap. Some almonds might fall off, no biggie. Carefully remove aluminum foil from your bars. Using a knife follow the lines of Graham crackers and cut bars to that shape. Trim those pieces into smaller bite size pieces. Store in air tight containers or Ziploc bags and keep them in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy or serve.

These are super sweet and rich and toffee-licous!